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If the Lakers win game 5, I doubt it goes 7. Phil Jackson is something like 46-3 in close out games, AND on top of that, they'll be playing at home where the Lakers bench plays WAAAAY better. If the Lakers win Game 5, I could EASILY see them winning Game 6 in a BLOWOUT fashion. The Lakers are at there BEST in close out games. Game 5 is more of a must win for Boston then it is for LA, because if Boston wins, it's no big deal. The Celtics have on of the WORST records in Close out games(as we saw in the last series against the Magic.) They just don't know how to close teams out.

What I've noticed with the Lakers is, once they get an 8+ point lead on you, it's rare to see a team beat them when they're down by 8 (minimum). Boston got ultra lucky tonight with their game.

I am loving the series though. I literally am on the edge of my couch every play, it's just that exhilarating, and I'm not even at the stadium!

Lakers will have an easy finish next game, even though I want it to go to game 7 (makes the series so much more fun to watch) I think next game is going to be bad on the Celtics. I fear the BIG 4 will once again play very trash like (except Rondo), and that the Lakers will be able to minimize the effects of the bench players (maybe except Big Baby).

Exactly, had the Lakers kept the game close(like 2 points) like they did in the 3rd, the Lakers would've ran away with the victory. Rasheed Wallace and Nate had like 2 lucky 3's, and Kobe was hesitant to shoot throuout the WHOLE 4th quarter. Kobe went up to shoot and made an ill-advised pass to Lamar behind the 3 point line, and Rando stole it. If I was Kobe, I'd keep on shooting til they could PROVE they could guard Kobe 1-on-1, and if they can't then I'd kick it out to Pau from the 20ft away from the basket, he hits that every time. The Lakers had tired legs down the stretch and made some STUPID passes, just STUPID. There was a point when they were down 4, and Pau got a rebound off of a Celtics miss, and he made a STUPID pass that got picked off.

Yeah I noted that too. If the Celtics didn't deepen the gap earlier they would have lost.

Yeahh, I was thinking to myself, normally the Lakers play most aggressive in 3rd quarter, and they make that their main quarter, and Kobe takes time off in the first half of the 4th quarter. Phil Jackson had the same strategy with Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

But Jackson really blundered this game as well, I think Jackson thought that the tired Lakers could hold off and beat the Celtics bench team so, and since the score was so close in the 3rd quarter it was literally a headache for Jackson to make decisions.

Gasol has become really aggressive this year. Then again, Finals 2009 opened my eyes to how well Gasol can play. Dwight Howard's team is beast, and they went 4-1...

Yeah, at some point in the 4th quarter, Doc Rivers was bout to put his starters back in, but then he saw the damage his bench was doing to the TIRED Lakers, and he let them play on. Heck, they were up by 11 with like a minute and 30 seconds left in the game, and the Lakers brought the lead down to 5. I mean, seriously? Lucky bailout by the Celtics bench.

The Celtics were sloppy as hell tonight. Did you see the 3rd quarter, what a joke. They went without scoring for so long. Rondo, Ray Allen, and Garnett were dropping the balls everytime they got it. For Allen and Garnett given their bad luck this series I understood that, but Rondo surprised me for playing awfully today.

Agreed, if they want to stay in and not lose in Game 6 and not make it to Game 7, they have to get their heads in. Looks like the bench players are doing a better job of staying together than the starters. Because what I've seen in Celtics performance in Game 3 & 4 from their starters has been trash. This one was literally a lucky game for them.

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I was wondering if people really hate Florida. I here alot of Florida hatred on these forums, BUT I have hundreds and maybe thousands of friends and family in Florida and they have hundreds of friends and most of them that I know really love Florida. (By the way they live throughout the South Florida metro area). And most people I talk to down there love it down there and say they wouldnt live anywhere else. So is this Florida hatred just subjective or is it true for most residents?